Hi Guys. I need to travel for business sometimes. I love the sound of tubes (early buyer of Decware and is entire system at home). I would like to center my travel system around a laptop, dac, preamp & amp or suitable integrated.

Obviously size is a big issue, in this case smaller is better. Also could use a recommendation on small speakers that would sound real good. If you can compare any component mentioned to the sound of a comparable Decware product, that would help me also. Thanks for your help.

Hi Riverranch, Thank you for your response. I currently have a Select, which is the same size and I would judge that to be a some big for putting in a suitcase when I still have to add all the other components and keep the airlines happy as well. Of course that would be great sound but size and weight is a issue I think.

I thought that the ZEN was smaller than the new SELECT. Is it an older one? The older ZEN would be the same size as the new SE84C+, perhaps even a little smaller as I recall they elongated the chassis a bit for the 2009 revisions.

You might read my thread about taking my ZEN and TRAPEZIUMS on the road for the holidays.

The only other amp might be the Mini Torii as it is small, relatively.

Hi Riverranch, I will look up your comments about traveling with them. Believe me, using the Zen equipment would make me happy, I just thought it would take up too much space and weigh alot too. Thanks again.

Personally I would hate to travel with any tube amp unless you have a dedicated suitcase for it. What I would do is get the Decware Zen Head headphone amp and some good headphones. Both small and very portable. Use the laptop as your source and there you go. Great music when traveling.

deucekazoo, thanks for the idea. I would like to be able to play it out-loud in a hotel room so that if I had guests, everyone could hear good music. I do tend to agree with you, I am still researching small components with great sound.